Snowshoe and process of manufacturing same



I May 24,1927.

E. W. VOSE SNOWSHOE AND PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING SAME Filed Aug. 22.1922 Patented May 24, 1927.

UNITED STATES" EDWIN W. VOSE, 0F BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS.

sn'owsnon AND rnocnss or MANUFACTURING sAi/rn.

Application filedAug'ust 22, 1922. *Serial No. 583,464.

This invention relates to snow shoes and has for its chief object todevise a thoroughly practical snow shoe which can be manufactured moreeconomically than the forms of snow shoes heretofore used. Theinventionalso involves an improved method of manufacturing snow shoes. I

Theonly form of snow shoe which has been commercially successfulheretofore, so far as I have been able to learn, is the Indian type,consisting of a wooden frame filled with a raw hide lacing. While thisform of snow shoe is very satisfactory,'it 1s expensive to manufactureand in recent years the manufacturing cost has increased so rapidly thatthe sale of these devices for pleasure purposes has been greatlyreduced. This is particularly true of small sizes, such as those usedby-children.

l The present invention aims to devise a. snow shoe construction whichwill be aS'serviceable as the present form of snow shoe, but which can,bemanufactured much more economically. To this end the inventloncontemplates a snow shoe made entirely of metal, and it is an importantobject of the invention to devise an all metal snow shoe which will besubstantially as light in weight as the Indian'typeof snow shoe.

The-nature of the invention will be readily understood from thefollowing description when read in connection 'with'the accom- PanyingdraWingS, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out in theappended claims. 1

Referring now to the drawings:

Fig. "1 is a plan View of a snow shoe 'em bodying this invention,

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the snow shoe shown in Fig. 1; I j

Fig. 3 is across sectional viewon the 111.10 38 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4.- is a cross sectional view through one of the braces, andaportion of the pad supported thereby;

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view through a portion of the snow shoe, theplane of sec tion being taken immediately behind the front brace;

Fig. 6 is a plan view on a large scale of a portion of the filling;

Fig. 7 is a cross sectional view on the line 77 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is aplan view of another embodiment of the invention; and

Fig. 9 is a cross sectional view of the frame and a part of thereinforced section of the snow shoe shown in Fig. 8.

The construction shown includes a metal rod 2 which is .bentintosuitable shape to form a snow shoe frame. The rod may be either solid orhollow, as desired, but it should be stifijenough'to give the desiredrigidity to the frame. I have found that on smallsized snow shoes a or'inchBessemer steel solid rod answers the purpose very well, a slightlylarger. size being required on large shoes. The ends of the rod 2 arebound together by a wire 3.

Instead of the usual rawhide lacing or filling, I pre'fer to use afilling 4 consisting of a woven wire fabric. A section of fabric ofsuitable size an'd'shape forthe filling is out out and the edges of saidsection are bent around the frame2, as best shown in Figs. 3'

and 5. I have found that a galvanized wire around the frame andsoldered, brazed or otherwise molecularly secured thereto. These rodssupport a tread pieceor pad 7 of wire fabric, the edges ofwhich-are.folded under, its ends being folded about the rods 5 and 6'and soldered thereto. lt'is contemplated that the ballof the weafrersfoot will rest onthe pad 7 so that the weight will be distributed to theframe by the rods 5 and 6.

In manufacturing the snow. shoe the pad 7 preferably is soldered to therods 5 and 6 and theends of the rods are then bent around theopposite'sides of the frame 2 as shown in the drawings. Thereafter, thewire filling is secured to the frame in the manner above described, thesoldering of the filling to the frame also serving to solder the ends ofthe wires 5 and 6 in place.

An aperture 8 is cut in the filling just in front of the pad 7 to allowthe toe to tip thru the bottom of the shoe in walking, and the fabric atthe edges of this aperture is bound by a metal strip 9 which may bellltl crimped into the meshesof the fabric, as shown in Fig. 1, orsoldered thereto, as shown in Fig. 7.

The strap 10 or other binder for the foot is fastened to the front brace5.

The construction above described, is 111- tended more particularly forehildrens sizes of snow shoes, although larger sizes can also be made inthis manner if' desired. It is particularly suited to service wherefootwear having heels is worn. Under many circumstances, andparticularly for larger sizes and those cases wher emoccasins are worn,I prefer to place the braces farther apart, as shown at, 5 and G in Fig,8, and to run a reinforcing strip 12 of wire fabric across the snow shoeto receive the weight of the foot. The ends of this strip are bentaround the sides of the frame and soldered thereto as shown in Fig. 9. Iconsider it preferable to run the st ands of wire in the filling, 4diagonally to the median line of the snow shoe, since this arr: ngementpresents a better appearance and gives a better distribution of theusers weight to the frame. The reinforcing strip 12, however, preferablyhas its strands lying in a. parallel and right angle relationship to themedian line- A fabric woven of resilient wire preferably is used inlarge sizes. Two rings or loops secured to the member 12 serve asanchoringmeans for the foot binder or strap.

It will now be appreciated that this invention provides a veryserviceable snow shoe whichcan be manufactured much more economicallythan the usual construction. The use of a woven wire fabric filling isof especial advantage since it saves the labor of putting in a lacing.This snow shoe acts and handles like a snow shoe of the Indian type andit has the advantage over the Indiansnow shoe of being vermin proof.

The described embodiment of the invention may be modified in manyparticulars without departing from the spirit, or scope of theinvention. For instance, some parts of the snow shoe may be made of theusual materials or, at least, of material other than metal.

Having thus described my invention what I desire to claim as new is 1. Asnow shoe comprising a metal frame, and a filling consisting of a wovenwire fabric having its edges secured to said frame, said fabric beingwoven prior to its attachment to the frame, and the principal, wirestrands of said fabric extending diagonally with reference to the medianline of the snow shoe.

2. A snow shoe comprising a metal rod bent to form a. snow shoe frame,and a filling consisting of a section of woven wire fabric out out andpositioned in the frame to elastically support and adequately distributethe weight of the wearer thereon,

the marginal edges of said section of fabric being folded around theframe and soldered there-to, A

3. A snow shoe comprising a frame, a filling consisting of a section ofwoven wire fabric cut out and having its edges secured to said frame,and a reinforcing metallic member extending across the snow shoe and onwhich the foot bears.

4. A snow shoe comprising a frame, a woven wire fabric filling havingitsedges secured to said frame said fabric having an aperture cuttherein for the entrance of the toe portion of the foot and a sheetmetal binding for thefabric at the edges of said aperture.

5.. A snow shoe comprising a frame, a filling consisting of a section ofwoven wire fabric cut out and having its edges secured tosaid frame, anadditional metallic member extending across the snow shoe from one sideof said frame to the other to reinforce the snow shoe in the region onwhich the foot bears, and a foot binding secured to saidreinforcingmember.

6. A snow shoe comprising a frame, a woven wirefabric filling having itsedges secured to said frame, said fabric having an aperture out thereinfor the entrance of the toe portion of the foot, and a sheet metalbinding for the fabric at, the edges of said aperture, said bindingbeing crimped in to the fabric..

7. A snow shoe comprising a metal rod bent to form a snowshoe frame, anda filling consisting of a sectiolrof woven wire fabric cut out andhaving its edges secured to said frame, and a woven wirereinforcementsecured to the frame and arranged to receive the weightofthe foot;

EDWIN W. VOSE.

